A new study by Juniper Research is forecasting that nearly 15 billion tickets will be delivered to mobile devices worldwide by 2014, compared to just over two billion this year.
Transport Leads the Way
The transport sector is leading the way, according to The Mobile Ticketing report, with SMS, bar code and app-based services offered by rail and metro providers and airlines. In the foreseeable future, Jupiter predicts that cinema chains, concert organizers and sports teams will also recognize the commercial viability of this technology.
Fifteen billion is a small percentage of the total tickets issued globally, according to report author Howard Wilcox, which is why the technology hasn’t advanced as quickly as might be expected. "There is plenty of scope for innovative solutions to penetrate this market," he says.
"Next steps will see more widespread purchasing on mobiles, as well as use of NFC tickets. Currently, however, there are only limited examples of NFC ticketing usage outside of the Far East owing to the lack of device availability."
Real Life Examples
Southwest Airlines iPhone app is one example of the travel sector allowing its customer to purchase tickets using their mobile devices, according to the Los Angeles Times. The app allows users to book a flight, check in for the flight, check on flight status and book a car reservation. Increasingly, other sectors cited by the report - such as sports and cinema - are showing signs of interest.
The NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 14 at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas is now sold out - except for Android smartphone owners that activate a new line of service with T-Mobile, writes the Dallas News, which cited a two-page ad in The Dallas Morning News. These people can get an NBA All-Star Ticket Pack of two tickets to the NBA All-Star Game, the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, and the NBA All-Star Jam Session.
In the Midwest, a AMC Entertainment-based venture has announced a paperless, mobile ticketing pilot program that will allow movie-goers to send their movie tickets directly to their cell phone. (via KansasCity.com).
MovieTickets.com is testing the paperless tickets at Classic Cinemas in Chicago with Mobiqa, a barcode ticketing company, also participating in the test. Moviegoers who purchase tickets at MovieTickets.com for shows at Classic Cinema theaters have a bar code sent to their devices. The bar code acts as a ticket, and can be scanned at the theaters.
Mobile Ticketing whitepaper and further details of the study 'Mobile Ticketing Applications & Markets: Transport, Sport & Entertainment 2009-2014' can be downloaded from www.juniperresearch.com
